


Secret Santa

by tenshi6



Series: Once upon a December [21]
Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 04:57:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13116513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tenshi6/pseuds/tenshi6
Summary: Secret Santa can both be a blessing and a cause of panic.





	Secret Santa

Raven was busy decorating her precious gingerbread angels when Charles came home, trembling and pale, as if he had seen a ghost. He walked into the kitchen, slowly, and sat on a stool at the island where Raven was working.

“We have a problem,” said Charles, staring at the cookies.

“Told ya this house is haunted.” Raven finished the eyes of an angel and then looked up, grinning. “But I think it’s a friendly spirit.”

Charles buried his face into his palms, groaning. “I’m so screwed.”

Raven waited a bit, but Charles didn’t elaborate. She asked, “Okay, what’s up?”

Instead of a reply, he put a piece of paper on the marble. Raven frowned as she was trying to make out the writing. Erik Lehnsherr. Her face lit up.

“You got the hot guy!” She exclaimed, which only made Charles groan more pathetically. “What? I thought you had a crush on him.”

He glared at her through his fingers. “Exactly.”

“I don’t understand. You finally get a chance to talk to him.”

“I’ve already talked to him.”

Raven raised her eyebrows. “Four full sentences in two months?”

Charles grimaced. He hated when she was right. He had no idea how to approach him or what to say. How did people start this thing? They didn’t work for the same department so he didn’t really have a good excuse to talk to him. And he was too afraid to just casually walk up to him and start small talk. He hated small talk. And he had no idea if Erik was even into guys.

Trying to get his thoughts under control, he steered the conversation back to the Secret Santa event and asked, “What should I get him? Like, I have no idea what he likes? What if he will hate me forever for a lame gift?” Charles was starting to panic. “Maybe I should get him a watch. You can’t really go wrong with that, huh? A Rolex, perhaps.”

For a moment, Raven couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry at her brother’s stupidity. Despite his two Phds, Charles was such a sucker when it came to human relations. She decided to try a straight face, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

Smiling, she said, “First, calm down.” She waited for Charles to take a few deep breaths and then continued. “Now, don’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s not your tenth anniversary, so no Rolex watches, okay?”

Charles nodded, listening eagerly. He was such a child, Raven thought fondly.

“Since you don’t know him that much, get him what colleagues do. Sweets and booze.”

“But that’s so impersonal…” whined Charles.

“Everybody loves chocolate and wine. Plus, you can start a conversation, like how you don’t know him much so maybe you should hang out more and then next year he’ll get something more personal.”

Charles thought about it, then said, “You know what? That’s actually a pretty good idea.”

She straightened herself. “I know, it’s mine”.

“You’re the best.” Charles got to his feet. “Now I should go get him a fancy wine!”

“Nothing too expensive!” She called after him, but doubted he paid any attention. Shaking her head, she went back to her little angel cookies.


End file.
